Cambodian name

Part of a series on the
Culture of Cambodia
Society
Topics
Symbols

Cambodian names (or Khmer names; ឈ្មោះខ្មែរ chhmŏăh khmêr) are names used or originating in Cambodia which usually consist of two elements including a patronymic, which serves as a common family name for siblings, followed by a given name (i.e. following the Eastern name order).[1][2] An example is singer Sinn Sisamouth, his surname (last name) is Sinn and his given name (first name) is Sisamouth (in Western sources, the two are sometimes reversed).[3]

The use of surnames in Cambodia is relatively recent and was not mandated by law until imposed by the French in 1910.[4] Surnames are typically derived from the father's given name.[5]

Other Austroasiatic indigenous people groups within Cambodia have similar naming customs, while the Sino-Khmer and Viet-Khmer may follow Chinese and Vietnamese naming patterns, respectively. Chams in Cambodia may have either Khmer or Cham names or a combination of both. Cham name order is the reverse of the Khmer; the given name is followed by the father's given name.[6]: 23 

  1. ^ "Naming systems of the world" Archived 2008-04-23 at the Wayback Machine (self-published). Citing Huffman, Franklin Eugene. Cambodian names and titles. Institute of Far Eastern Languages, Yale University (1968). OCLC 20035170.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference short was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Kershaw, Roger. Monarchy in South-East Asia: The Faces of Tradition in Transition. Routledge (2001), p xiv. ISBN 0-415-18531-9.
  4. ^ Whitaker, Donald P. (1973). Area Handbook for the Khmer Republic (Cambodia). U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 60.
  5. ^ Huy, Vannak (2003). THE KHMER ROUGE DIVISION 703: From Victory to Self-destruction. Phnom Penh: Documentation Center of Cambodia. pp. 6 (note 1). CiteSeerX 10.1.1.139.6706.
  6. ^ Ueki, Kaori (2011). "PROSODY AND INTONATION OF WESTERN CHAM" (PDF). University of Hawaii. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)